Jacinda Ardern Photograph:( Reuters )
The Prime Minister of New Zealand - Jacinda Ardern on Monday claimed that no meat products exported from the country carried COVID-19. This came in after Chinese authorities claimed to have found coronavirus on frozen beef products
The Prime Minister of New Zealand - Jacinda Ardern on Monday claimed that no meat products exported from the country carried COVID-19. This came in after Chinese authorities claimed to have found coronavirus on frozen beef products.
Over the weekend - a city in China called “Jinan” claimed that it had found traces of COVID-19 in beef and tripe. All these products hailed from Bolivia, Brazil, and New Zealand, Reuters reported.
Additionally, the virus was detected on the packaging of these products. Two provincial capitals also found traces of the virus on packaging of pork coming in from Argentina.
Ardern says no clarification from China
During a news conference, Ardern claimed that they were informed of coronavirus on packaging on products hailing from Argentina, and that some products from NZ were stored in the same place where traces of coronavirus were found.
"We were not advised that New Zealand products had themselves tested positive for COVID-19," Ardern said.
"This is incredibly important to New Zealand. We are confident that our products do not, and are not, exported with signs of COVID on them given our status as essentially being COVID-free," she added.
New Zealand has been treated as a COVID-19 success story while countries continue to grapple with the virus. The small country has eliminated the virus twice among its people. Additionally, it only has 58 active cases right now, who are quarantined in isolation facilities.
Ardern added that her administration is seeking more information from China, but also that the China hadn’t given more clarification yet.
World's biggest beef buyer - China
China’s is the world’s biggest beef buyer. According to Chinese authorities in Jinan, capital of the Shandong province, the goods that were reportedly carrying COVID-19 were imported by a unit of Guotai International Group, and Shanghai Zhongli Development Trade.
Additionally, the products entered the country through ports in Shanghai.
The WHO has said that the risk of contracting COVID-19 from frozen food remains low. Owing to this, China has increased testing on frozen foods. It has also banned a few imports, fearing the spread of coronavirus.